I like funny OOO – but I am a bad offender regarding these and may slightly overshare. I recently had to be in and out for eye surgery and this was mine:
My parents ran a furniture refinishing shop when I was in school. There are workshops and conferences for this trade. I attended a private high school that was primarily a boarding school. Once, when my parents needed to attend a middle-of-the-week event, they arranged for me to stay overnight in the school dorms. Upon being asked by the house mother where my parents were, I said they was at a stripping convention.
.
4.) Herzlich willkommen bei Mustermann Solutions . Wegen einer firmeninternen Veranstaltung ist heute unser Sekretariat nicht erreichbar.Sie können uns aber gerne eine Nachricht hinterlassen. Ab Montag stehen wir Ihnen wieder persönlich zur Verfügung. Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis.
If you are reading this, it is because John Whatsisname cannot help you – he has left the company and no longer uses this email address.
However, if you do choose to do this, make sure you actually follow through and do the thing you’re bragging about, unlike this New York Times reader who was just a bit too bold.
“Thank you for your message. I am out of the office today with no access to phone. I will be back on April 5. In case you need any immediate help, you can reach [person] at [phone number].”
But I also believe there’s meaningful power in the mundane cultural norms we set and practice. Email, for better or worse, makes up a large chunk of how knowledge workers communicate. So much of this communication is muddled by broken email habits and larger anxieties around performing productivity. We’re constantly nervous about asking too much of others or doing too little on behalf of our coworkers. But we’re also stuck in work patterns that force us to communicate constantly and normalize working and demanding things from colleagues at all hours.
It’s possible I might quote from some responses to this in an upcoming column, so please note if you don’t want me to do that with yours!
Hey there! I’m on holiday right now. I’ll try to reply to your message ASAP. Talk to you later!
However, when I email the backup person I also cc the original person. If the issue gets totally resolved, the original person is well aware. If the issue is not resolved, the original person can pick it up pretty easily.
If you are re-using the existing message from the past, make sure you update the dates so that your clients know when you will be available again. For a general out-of-office message, it is vital to include the office timings.
There are some types of work or office cultures where I think this makes sense. Sometimes enough people use OOO messages for work travel, conferences, and similar that getting the OOO doesn’t really mean you won’t get a response until the date specified. It can help to clarify.
Out-of-office auto-replies that keep happening over and over on CC’ed email threads.
Under “General,” scroll down to the “Vacation responder” section. Fill in your message and subject line and select the dates you’d like it to appear, then select “Vacation responder on” and then “Save Changes” to finish.
Or they work with one or more of those people that call you 5 minutes after sending an email if you don’t reply.
Team building content expert. Jessica has a double major in English and Asian Studies, and experience working with teams across cultures; including 3+ years in Taiwan.
If you have questions, please contact Human Resources at 503-370-6210 or [email protected].